New charge for man accused of dumping Middletown woman’s body

DAYTON — One of two men accused of dumping a Middletown woman’s body in a Kettering yard has more felony charges.

Charles E. Hall, 65, was arraigned Monday on two counts of aggravated drug possession. The same day, a March 3, 2018, trial date was set on gross abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence charges in Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Gregory Singer’s courtroom.

Hall and David Detrick, 39, allegedly removed the body of 28-year-old Tiffany Argo on May 21 from Hall’s residence to Valleywood Drive, police and prosecutors say. The Middletown woman’s death was ruled an accidental overdose of carfentanil and cocaine, according to the county coroner’s office.

Also Monday, Detrick was ordered to appear Dec. 5 before Singer to schedule appearance and trial dates. He, too, is charged with gross abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence in connection to Argo.

Jonathan J. Rockey, 36, of Springfield, pleaded not guilty to one count each of domestic violence, abduction, disrupting public services, assault, menacing and unauthorized use of a vehicle in Clark County Municipal Court on Tuesday morning. Bond was set at $23,500.

Clark County Sheriff’s Office deputies were called to the intersection of Studebaker Road and Ayers Pike for an active domestic violence dispute on Feb. 17. The victim and another man who stopped to help told deputies the suspect just drove off in a minivan towards Miami County, according to a police report.

A witness told deputies he was driving on Ayers Pike when he heard a woman calling for help. As he pulled up to the van, he allegedly saw Rockey stomping on a woman’s head. The witness told Rockey he had an active concealed carry permit, the report said. Rockey allegedly threatened the witness, he said.

The victim told deputies she had just arrived home in New Carlisle when Rockey asked her to go on a car ride, the report said. Rockey allegedly had alcohol on his breath and threw the victim’s phone into the back of the car so she wouldn’t be able to reach it. Rockey drove to some woods the victim wasn’t familiar with and allegedly refused to take her home, the report said.

Rockey accused the woman of cheating on him and allegedly told her if she didn’t tell the truth she wouldn’t make it out of the woods alive, the report said. The victim began yelling for help and Rockey allegedly pulled her out of the vehicle and began stomping on her head and stomach until the witness arrived to help. The victim told deputies multiple times she believed he was going to kill her, it said.

Rockey was taken into custody by deputies on Monday evening in New Carlisle, according to jail records.

Driver cited in ambulance crash in Warren County

The driver accused of causing this head-on crash with an ambulance in Warren County has been cited into court.

LEBANON — The Lebanon man driving the truck that crashed head-on into an ambulance earlier this month, sending himself and three people to the hospital for treatment, is to appear in court Thursday on a misdemeanor charge.

Jesse C. Jones, 21, of Lebanon, was charged with “lanes of travel” on Tuesday in Warren County Court.

On Feb. 9, Jones, two ambulance technicians and a woman they were transporting to a hospital after she suffered a stroke, were treated after the three-vehicle crash on Ohio 122 outside Red Lion in Clearcreek Twp., Warren County.

A magistrate judge ruled Tuesday that both would remain detained during their case. Both are scheduled for a March 2 preliminary hearing.

Confidential sources told law enforcement that a residence at 5545 County Road 25A in Tipp City was being used by a drug trafficking organization with ties to Mexico, according to a criminal complaint and affidavit written by a Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) special agent.

In January, Mayorga Gonzalez was stopped for speeding on Interstate 75 and provided false names for both defendants, according to the complaint.

The special agent wrote that, according to a Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office detective assigned to a Homeland Security task force, Mayorga Gonzalez was the subject of a November 2016 seizure of nine kilograms (19.84 pounds) of heroin and $400,000.

“Specifically, during the prior investigation a cooperating witness stated that Mayorga Gonzalez was a coordinator f0r large amounts of heroin coming into the Dayton area and was also involved with the collection of large amounts of drug proceeds,” the special agent wrote. A prosecutor and defense attorney both said Tuesday that Mayorga Gonzalez was not arrested the 2016 case.

The affidavit said that the DEA obtained a search warrant earlier this month for the “target residence”and located Zapeda-Ibarria inside along with evidence.

The evidence mentioned included a hydraulic press, Tyvek suits, face masks and more than $150,000 cash, three kilograms of suspected fentanyl in the attic floor, a loaded handgun, scales and suspected drug cutting agents.

Mayorga Gonzalez was found with a key to the residence, according to the complaint, which stated that both men admitted to being in the country illegally.

The 12-year-olds were arraigned on Wednesday before a Butler County juvenile court magistrate, where no plea was entered, according to Rob Clevenger, court administrator. A pre-trial hearing before county juvenile court Judge Ronald Craft is scheduled for March 26.

At Wednesday’s hearing, the two defendants were ordered to be under supervision of court monitoring, have no cell phone or access to social media and use the internet for school purposes only.